So this is a subjective topic, but ever since I've tried to make an effort to watch more anime I've been finding I dislike a lot more of them than I actually like. This isn't a time period where I was a kid and the amount I could watch was limited, in fact watching those older anime's I'm starting to understand why a lot of them weren't picked up by the networks as a kid.
There's a lot of downright boring anime out there, and with Crunchy Roll I'm find a lot of them just are not good.
There is probably an audience for each one but I've been finding that I'm less and less likely to be the audience for a majority of them.
I felt the same way so I started going back to classic animes that I never got to watch as a kid. I've found that I'm enjoying anime a lot more compared to the seasonal anime that is starting to get repetitive. If these shows had something different or new then we would probably enjoy it more. Some of the old stuff can't even be replicated because of how special it is. Plus, I'm appreciating the classics a lot more as an adult.
Personally most anime these days are kind of ok to me. Like, I wouldn't actively watch a lot of them, but if it was on at a time I couldn't change the channel, like thanksgiving at my cousin's place, I wouldn't dislike most of them, I just know that if I were to search I could watch something more worth the effort a lot of the time.
I felt the same way so I started going back to classic animes that I never got to watch as a kid. I've found that I'm enjoying anime a lot more compared to the seasonal anime that is starting to get repetitive. If these shows had something different or new then we would probably enjoy it more. Some of the old stuff can't even be replicated because of how special it is. Plus, I'm appreciating the classics a lot more as an adult.
I've been watching anime since I was a kid. Nowadays, however, I find that most animes they show online are:
1) Repetitive
2) Effective time-killer, and nothing else
3) Cliche that it doesn't matter if I skip early episodes, I still can follow the narrative
4) there's a fucking beach episode in nearly all the titles
If I hated litRPG in online pop literature, I dislike idol animes even as my Discord group keeps on telling me to watch those. In restrospect, I don't like idol groups, anyway.
Anyway, to keep it short, I lost my 'love' for anime and now only read manga or light novels if I want Eastern entertainment.
I've been watching anime since I was a kid. Nowadays, however, I find that most animes they show online are:
1) Repetitive
2) Effective time-killer, and nothing else
3) Cliche that it doesn't matter if I skip early episodes, I still can follow the narrative
4) there's a fucking beach episode in nearly all the titles
If I hated litRPG in online pop literature, I dislike idol animes even as my Discord group keeps on telling me to watch those. In restrospect, I don't like idol groups, anyway.
Anyway, to keep it short, I lost my 'love' for anime and now only read manga or light novels if I want Eastern entertainment.
I kind of feel like a lot of it has to do with the popularity of light novels and how a lot of anime now comes from that. Light novels aren't written well.
As you said, effective time killer.
Generally speaking, most series have to start with a question, premise and setting and then go from there and explore it. Nowadays, it's just premise and nothing else. There are a few anime that are good these days, but they're far in between...
Also, it's hard to believe One Punch Man is 7 years old already. Season 1 was the last series I really enjoyed. Demon Slayer is okay, but vastly superior to most of what's out now.
I kind of feel like a lot of it has to do with the popularity of light novels and how a lot of anime now comes from that. Light novels aren't written well.
Generally speaking, most series have to start with a question, premise and setting and then go from there and explore it. Nowadays, it's just premise and nothing else. There are a few anime that are good these days, but they're far in between...
Also, it's hard to believe One Punch Man is 7 years old already. Season 1 was the last series I really enjoyed. Demon Slayer is okay, but vastly superior to most of what's out now.
Isn't it natural to dislike more anime than you like? It's not really a genre like western genres. It's a style that gets applied to every other genre.
If you watch a set of tailor picked shows for a certain network, all of them will probably be similar, and possibly even 'the best' the curator could find. If they're feeling snooty.
On the other hand, if you're just watching anything and everything, you'll find genres you don't care for, and all the runoff that got ignored by other people.
Then beyond that, there's stuff that is getting made because it's easier to make in the modern world... Like SH's web novels. You don't need to be a megacorporation to get your ideas published anymore, so even if your idea might flop, there's no harm in trying. Maybe nobody will notice, or you might end up with a surprising hit.
I think people are just looking at it through a rose tinted glass. Same with saying there were better music in the past. Nope. There were the same ammount of shit and medicore things back than too, just like today.
The old things that everyone praises gets it because it withstood the test of time. It was also surrounded with medicore and sub-par stuff.
you don’t get really good stuff every season, but there are a few anime series every year that are just as good as the “old ones”.
Some new anime are good. I dig wondering witch Elaine and I loved Kobayashi dragon maid. Monogatari was good and while the LN is much better, Overlord was very entertaining.
I think people are just looking at it through a rose tinted glass. Same with saying there were better music in the past. Nope. There were the same ammount of shit and medicore things back than too, just like today.
The old things that everyone praises gets it because it withstood the test of time. It was also surrounded with medicore and sub-par stuff.
you don’t get really good stuff every season, but there are a few anime series every year that are just as good as the “old ones”.
I think you're missing what I stated.
I didn't say ALL old anime was good. As you said and I agree, there was a lot of trash back then, it's just it never got translated or seen by me because it was filtered out. Nowadays... everything is there. Trash is hyped up more than it was in the past.
With that said, there is at least one enjoyable series every season. It's more like saying "Junk is much more prevalent now" not "all old anime" was good or better.
Isn't it natural to dislike more anime than you like? It's not really a genre like western genres. It's a style that gets applied to every other genre.
It's more like anime nowadays want to have an edgy or realistic ending or open ending for a continuation, which to me is stupid because a lot of us don't watch anime for realism. We want a good story and an ending with the emotional payoff we had been investing in. Cowboy Bebop for instance
Ended in a tragedy where Spike dies, but it was memorable and good (maybe even great) in the sense that it was essentially about a man who confronts and accepts his past, even if that past never lets him move on.
Gundam Wing and it's subsequent movie also ended with the victory and peace everyone wanted, but then you got Iron Blood Orphans where:
The first season ending was amazing, and the second season ending just left me like WTF! All that investment and you give me that shit? It's the same with Aldnoah Zero's ending where they wrap it up in perhaps a realistic way but a way that all the emotional investment doesn't pay off at all.
Compared to the ending of Gundam 00:
Where Setsuna beats the shit out of Ribbons and was satisfying. Or even Gurren Lagann where there was a lot of hope for humanity moving on.
I'm just saying that it went from having heart to "let's be cute" or "let's have harem" or "let's iseakai" and a lot of the stakes that were in previous series are taken out or end in a way that's borderline tragic rather than giving the viewer the high tension and emotional payoff that used to come with these shows. I'm mostly talking about the big budget and hyped up series these days compared to the big and hyped series in the past.
One Punch Man surprisingly is good at stirring tension because you know the payoff is coming.
Lol, and I guess that's why Demon Slayer has become enjoyable for me as well.
i only like old anime from the 80s 90s & early 2000s. I watch a lotta Re-Runs of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, DBZ abridged & Helsing Abridged.
I pretty much hate all new anime & manga.
occasionally i find something good like one punch man or ' B ' (a netflix anime movie) or Origin, but more often than not i just find it to be a soulless genre now.
new anime just seems content to make use of tropes instead of actually writing anything new.
I think trash is was still hyped up back then, only it was a smaller circle, with less people in it. So it didn't had that much of an echo behind it. When I started watching anime it was a niche thing, where fansubs and manga translations were the main source. Streaming? Buying translated manga from official source? We didn't even had smart phones yet, lol~ Only things like DBZ, Pokemon, Sailor Moon got their dubs and spot on TV. Anyway, I am rambling, so here is a few titles that I remember every one of my friends praised and left me wonder if I am a tasteless fuckup. (note: this is my opinion, what is trash or isn't is subjective and I am not here to bash anybody's tastes! There are many series that are considered garbage that I like!)
Dragon Ball: The OG was a masterpiece. Z? Wack. Fight me. Wait... no, don't fight me, I am not good at hitting people... ugh...
Naruto: The original run was a solid 3/5 maybe even better. But once again, it went down the shitter. I also feel the same with Bleach and One Piece, Soul Eater, Fairy Tail, D. Gray Man, and I could go on and on with the shounen titles. Make it too long and it is going to at best be an average series. I really, really liked all of them for at least the first few seasons. Then all of them simply lost it for me.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Eh... I don't get what was the hype behind it. It is not bad per se but... I don't know. It is nothing awesome either.
Vampire Knight: I liked it. Then I watched it again a few years later. Damn I felt that it was like... really bad.
Highschool of the Dead: Straight to the bin.
Attack on Titan: Meh. I lost it with the manga first, when it turned out the walls had giants in them... didn't even bother with the anime.
SAO: First season's first half. That is 5/5, the rest does not exist. Kirito died with Asuna at the end, sacrificing themselves to save the others. The End.
Gundam SEED / SEED Destiny - Seed I like, I just do not get why did it got a continuation.
As I said, we may feel that today's trash is so hyped up is because:
The pool of audience is a 1000 times bigger now. It is much more easier to find a trendy trope, push 90 stories with the same premise, with the same plot, out to the people. From that 1000, there are going to be 6-700 to eat it up to get their fix of being isekaid for half an hour.
So... Writing this down, and thinking about it... you are god damn right.
I never tried watching random animes, so I can't answer that.
That said, the animes I did try watching, I've enjoyed them.
I guess I'm just picky? If I watch something is because I think I'll like them... Usually this means either an original anime I heard really good things about (like Madoka Magica or Angel Beats or Zombieland Saga) or an adaptation of a source material that I already liked.
I dunno, I don't think I'd watch animes blindly... Too time consuming, I guess? It's kinda like reading stuff blindly... If you're just reading anything that comes your way, chances are, you'll read a lot of garbage.
Gundam Wing and it's subsequent movie also ended with the victory and peace everyone wanted, but then you got Iron Blood Orphans where:
The first season ending was amazing, and the second season ending just left me like WTF! All that investment and you give me that shit? It's the same with Aldnoah Zero's ending where they wrap it up in perhaps a realistic way but a way that all the emotional investment doesn't pay off at all.
Gundam is mostly Bittersweet ending where MC wins and survive, but there's so much loss and suffering that it feels too much.
And there's also the Bad ending where MC didn't survive. even though it's quite uncommon to have Bad ending, Happy Ending is even rarer.
Gundam is a world filled with warfare, child soldiers, political warfare, and of course Dead characters out of nowhere that Catch you out of surprise.
The creator of Gundam series, Tomino, is nicknamed "Kill-em-all Tomino" due to how much character dies in his story and how MC isn't spared if he fail to survive the final battle.
There's the original Gundam MC, who share rivalry for spans of the course of 2 anime season, and finally get killed on the Final OVA film.
I dunno, I don't think I'd watch animes blindly... Too time consuming, I guess? It's kinda like reading stuff blindly... If you're just reading anything that comes your way, chances are, you'll read a lot of garbage.
I've been trying to watch all the "popular" ones now and very few of them are interesting. It seems like the tastes of anime watchers now are far different than when I was a kid.
I think you misinterpret "happy ending" with "emotional payoff ending." I don't really care for a "happy ending", but what I wanted was to see the protagonist accomplish what they wanted. In Iron Blooded orphans for instance, they wanted to become the King of Mars... and you can see what happened there.
00, they wanted to end war, and well, they at least somewhat achieved that goal through some big fights.
The point isn't the MC surviving, but the ending being satisfying.
I still find a few anime from today pretty good. AoT, CSM, To Your Eternity, and a few others. But you do have a point about modern anime having a problem. I feel like they never manage to end in a satisfactory way. I haven't seen many manga or anime end in a way I hated, but I also haven't seen one that has ended in a way I liked. Most of them feel... Mid. AoT's ending was alright, but it failed to be as memorable as the rest of the series. They just keep going and going. For dozens of volumes sometimes. It feels like they dig themselves into a hole they can't escape without properly setting up a good ending.
